Are you the kind of person who always wants the window seat when you travel by plane? The aerial view of the earth with mountains, oceans and fields is enchanting - but it can be difficult to get a good view through those tiny windows! One way to get a full 360º view would be to jump out of the plane, but it’s very obvious from the pre-flight safety briefing that they don’t want you to do that. If you want to see the earth from high in the air, with no windows, ropes or sails to spoil the view, you have to exchange the commercial jet for a light aircraft, strap on a parachute and take a leap of faith into the blue. The sport of skydiving is usually associated with daredevils, but it’s becoming more and more popular across the country. One of the best locations to experience the unrivalled thrills of a parachute jump is the historic city of Durham in the Northeast.

Where to go skyding in Durham?

This county’s most famous landmark is the Gothic Cathedral, which rises on a prominent hill above a bend in the River Wear. This imposing monument inspired the witchcraft and wizardry school of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, but you won’t need a broomstick to take a magical journey through the skies above the city. Not far away, at Shotton airfield, you’ll find a first class dropzone, or skydiving facility, with jumps to suit newcomers to sport and dedicated divers alike. The attraction of this activity isn’t just the unique views that you can get of the ground below, it’s in the rush of adrenaline that accompanies the decision to override your instincts and step out of a moving plane. Once you’re in the air, you start accelerating towards the Earth in freefall - a state when the only forces working on your body are gravity and drag: no ropes, no safety lines, nothing. Skydivers can reach speeds of over 120 mph before opening their parachute and descending safely to the ground. After the rush of freefall it’s during the parachute descent that you’re more likely to enjoy the views of Durham and the surrounding countryside getting closer and closer.

What kinds of parachute jumps are available?

- Tandem jumps: it takes a lot of knowledge and skill to jump out of a plane and return to Earth in one piece, which is why most people’s first jumps are in tandem style. You’ll be a kind of passenger, attached to an experienced skydive instructor with hundreds of even thousands of jumps under their belt. You’ll leave the plane together and adopt the correct position (face down, arms and legs up) for freefall, then after descending several thousand feet at breakneck speed, the instructor will open the parachute and guide you both, safely and serenely, onto the dropzone.

- Courses: the idea of having someone else controlling the jump might take some of the fun out of the experience for true thrill seekers. If you want to face off against gravity alone - and live to tell the tale - you’ll need to take a course. An AFF course is the industry standard that turns you from beginner to independent skydiver in 8 jumps. Before you do your first skydive, you’ll have a full day of ground school, learning about the equipment, the physics and the safety measures, and then you can start putting that knowledge into practice. After completing all 8 jumps you’ll have learnt all you need in order to skydive solo wherever you like around the world. You can break the course up into sections and complete them as suits you if necessary.

- Charity: if you need an extra push to build up the courage to complete the activity, why not make a charity commitment? It would be awful to let down all of your sponsors by pulling out at the last minute so this is a great way to challenge yourself, whilst doing something for a good cause. All charity jumps are tandem jumps, so anyone can use this as a fundraising stunt and you never know - you might just get hooked!

How long does the free fall last?

Jumps here takes place from 10,000ft or 15,000ft. While both are dizzyingly high, the difference is the amount of time that you'll spend in freefall before the parachute opens at around 5,000ft. Jumping from the plane at 10,000ft you’ll have 30 seconds, while a 15,000ft jump gives you a full 60 seconds of speed to enjoy.

Can you take photos or videos?

For your safety (and the safety of your camera) you’re not allowed to have a camera on your person during a skydive. This is because there are certain positions that you need to adopt at each stage of the jump, and you’ll need to hold onto the parachute ropes at landing. In addition, you don’t want any distractions that will take you away from this fantastic experience, or cause you to misunderstand the commands of your instructor. But don’t worry, your one-of-a-kind journey through the skies can be captured on film by the jump providers.

There are two ways to film it. The first is with a handheld camera which your instructor holds. This will capture some fantastic footage of the smile on your face - or the wind blowing your cheeks into strange new shapes! For a truly cinematic record of your aerial stunt, another skydiver will jump just before you and capture the moment that you leave the plane, then accompany you through freefall and the descent. Every moment of the jump will be on film, and the Durham landscape will be the background to this masterpiece.

Requirements to do this activity

This county is famous for its university, but you don’t need to be university age in order to live this dream. Skydiving is open to anyone over the age of 16. There’s no upper limit: even 90 year olds have completed tandem jumps in Durham. There are some limits on weight, as the parachutes have specific carrying capacities which can’t be exceeded. For men, the upper limit is 15.5 stone (100 kilograms) and for women it’s 14.5 stone (92 kilograms), with weight in proportion to height.

Completing a tandem jump doesn’t require a huge amount of physical strength or mobility, the most important thing is that you need to be able to lift your knees and feet up on landing. This means that people with reduced mobility can experience the rush of this experience.

Is it a safe sport?

Not counting slight dizziness or nausea, small injuries or other safety issues are very rare. Your instructor in a tandem jump will be a veteran with hundreds or even thousands of jumps’ experience, which is evidence of the incredibly high success rate. And the fact that they jump with you and use the same equipment means that it’s in their interests to make sure everything works properly and gets you back to Earth safely.

Talking about equipment, parachutes have a success rate of 99.9%, and each skydive - whether tandem or solo - is completed with two parachutes. The result is that you can leave the airfield fully confident that you’ll have a safe return.

If you were unsure about having a go at skydiving before reading this guide, we hope that we’ve put your fears to rest and inspired you to take on this once in a lifetime challenge. Book now and wait for clear skies!